Chapter Text
When Seungkwan awoke initially, he breathed in, before squinting his eyes open, bright lights immediately overwhelming him. A groan arose from the back of his throat, before fully opening his eyes. He recognized himself to be in a private hospital room. He’s been here too many times to not recognize it. Mostly because of the other member’s problems; he’d always be there right beside them when they woke up. He guessed it was his turn now.
He turned to the left to see his little brother sitting in a chair next to his bed, sleeping silently. His eyes immediately widened. He looked to the side sullenly, figuring it didn’t work. Silent tears filled his eyes, the boy bringing his hand up to his mouth to cover his sobs, quivering stomach causing more pain to bloom. He groaned, closing his eyes painfully as his whole body ached in pain. Dino flinched awake, sitting up in his chair as a groan filled the air. The others immediately flinched from their various positions in the room, near the window, on the couch, even on the floor, looking at the boy in the hospital bed.
“Seungkwan-hyung? Hyung, can you hear me?” Dino slightly whispered, overly emotional tone in his voice as tears glistened in his eyes.
Seungkwan groaned again, breathing out painfully as his face scrunched in pain.
“It…hurts…” He groaned, breathing out carefully as a single tear fell from his face.
“Tell one of the nurses to go get painkillers! Hurry!” Dino spurred one of the others, Wonwoo already silently slipping out to accomplish the task.
“Seungkwan-hyung, can you open your eyes for me? Or is that too painful?” Dino shook his head, not wanting the other to be in more pain because of his request.
Seungkwan breathed out, squinting his eyes open before gazing at the younger. He breathed out heavily for a moment, before settling himself and relaxing. Dino smiled warmly, hand reaching up to push Seungkwan’s bangs back.
“Hey…hey. You with us, Seungkwan-hyung?” He cradled the older’s cheek softly, hopeful smile on his face.
Seungkwan nodded silently, neck aching in response as he silently grimaced again.
“Everything hurts.” He whispered, opening his eyes once more, grimace still on his face.
“Yeah, you took in a lot of damage. But…you don’t have to worry anymore, hyung. That man is gone. We’ll never see him again for the rest of our lives.” Dino shook his head, a gravely serious expression on his face.
Seungkwan’s eyes silently widened, seeming like they’d fall out of their sockets. Wonwoo soon returned with a nurse, the woman inserting a needle of painkillers into his IV before bowing and leaving the room. Relief immediately filled Seungkwan’s body, and, maybe it was because of the painkillers, he found himself ready to fall asleep again. But, he needed to have this conversation first before anything.
“R––really? He’s gone? Forever?” He spoke softly, wide eyes immediately filling with tears.
“Yeah. The police took him away a couple of hours ago. You’re safe from that monster now.” Seungcheol stepped up to the other side of his hospital bed, grabbing his hand and rubbing it softly as he spoke with a reassuring smile on his face.
Seungkwan smiled widely, breathing out as he looked at his Seungcheol hyung. Suddenly, he felt tears well up in his eyes. He brought his hand up to his mouth, tears falling from his eyes as he closed them. He sobbed softly for a moment, drying the tears falling from his eyes with his hands. Once he composed himself, he breathed out carefully before looking at his members with red eyes. They all looked at him worriedly, and he silently fiddled with his fingers as he looked away from them. Silence fills the room for a moment, before one of the members decides to break it.
“Seungkwan-hyu––”
“Why didn’t you tell us?” Vernon interrupts Dino’s statement as he faces Seungkwan seriously, tender expression on his face.
“I––I really wanted to. I––I really did. I promise. But…he…” Seungkwan trailed off, clenching his fists as he sniffled.
“He what? What could’ve possibly kept you from telling us, your family?!” Vernon emotionally ranted, eyes glistening with tears.
“He threatened you! He threatened to do the same thing to all of you! I couldn’t let that happen, I needed to protect you from him! Even if it meant I got hurt in the process!” Seungkwan emotionally yelled, eyes glinting with tears as he looked directly at Vernon.
A single tear fell from Vernon’s eye as he crossed his arm. He bit his bottom lip before storming up to Seungkwan, bringing him into a hug.
“I’m sorry. I knew something was wrong but–– I thought–– I thought you’d come to me when you were ready. I never thought it could’ve gotten worse.” Vernon emotionally spoke as more tears fell from his eyes.
“I couldn’t risk you guys. I couldn’t under any circumstance. I love all of you too much to do that.” Seungkwan emotionally replied, tears falling from his eyes as well as he hugged Vernon back.
The group stood around the room incredulously, before silently joining their hug. Seungkwan breathed out carefully, smiling widely as everyone left the hug.
🩵
It took Seungkwan two weeks to recover from his injuries sustained from that day. Their comeback preparations were delayed as a result, but the company had yet to announce it so it didn’t make that much of a difference.
The members made it a point to visit Seungkwan every day in small groups of two or three. In that time, they talked with him about anything and everything they could think of, shared drinks and snacks with him, and just made sure he had a fun time while still in the hospital. Seungkwan was so happy. His members really solved every one of his problems. The stress from the incident was wiped away easily; so much so, that when their new new manager came to introduce himself to Seungkwan in the hospital, he was a little excited.
“Hello, it’s nice to meet you! My name is Lee Siwoo! It’s nice to meet you, Seungkwan-hyung! Oh, can I call you that? Sorry…I’m kind of new to this new manager thing…” He nervously ranted, small smile on his face.
Seungkwan smiled widely, “Seungkwan-hyung is fine. I’d actually prefer that. Siwoo, huh? It’s nice to meet you! I hope we can get along!”
“Yes, definitely, I’d love that! I look forward to your support, Seungkwan-hyung! Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve gotta get going. It was really nice meeting you! See you soon!”
And with that, their new new manager left with a wide smile.
Siwoo…with the hangul for ‘begin’ and ‘protection.’ Interesting…
Seungkwan smiled, opening another app on his phone before scrolling through his socials.
Despite his recovery time being long, his members still made him feel loved and appreciated every minute of every day. Every trace of darkness was completely depleted from Seungkwan’s body; he felt refreshed and replenished.
Seungkwan was truly protected. And for that, he would praise God every day.
Fin